I thought it would be valuable today to head into another excerpt from the 90-Day Guide for Success – this one around organizing. Here’s what I share in Day 38 under the title ORGANIZING:
Today I wanted to cover five areas you might want to consider as they relate to getting and keeping organized:
1. File management—from our paper-based files to electronic ways we file and access information, keeping files in check is critical.
2. Version control—when working with other team members in collaborative documents, being able to access and work on the most up-to-date documents is key.
3. Building in time for planning—planning often falls to the bottom of the list for remote work. When boundaries are fluid as we work odd hours with our stakeholders across the world, the ability to build in time for planning sometimes “goes by the wayside.” When are you building in formal moments to plan—virtually and otherwise?
4. Batching considerations—remote workers are often pulled from task to task, especially if we become reactive around key tasks coming in via email. A challenge for the remote team today is to ensure that we do make headway on all the different tasks involved, including the more focused, deeper work required for tasks.
5. Keeping on top of rote tasks—reporting, finances, filing, etc. Regularly dedicating 15 minutes to more rote tasks can help to keep the clutter (physical and mental) at bay. Physically also filing things in an orderly fashion—e.g., a box for receipts—can also help to diminish the mental clutter created by the open loop of invoices which have not been entered.
One final thing to keep in mind in terms of getting more organized is systems. In PlanDoTrack , I point to the importance of five main areas of systems for entrepreneurs and other remote workers.
Consider these areas:
1. Financial systems—invoicing, accounts payable, cash flow, accounts receivable, etc.
2. Client and stakeholder systems—connecting with and sharing information with others—this might include such things as email templates, contact lists, meeting notes, or past reports on collaboration.
3. Marketing—websites, social media feeds, frequently asked questions.
4. Content—do you know what you have created? Do you have an accessible listing of what there is?
5. Project management—from Waterfall to Agile project management, it’s key to have a strong series of systems to keep your projects moving and communication happening around them.
What systems are going to help you streamline and keep on top of your work?
(Excerpt: 90-Day Guide for Success, Day 38, page 248, © Britton, 2021)
Best,
Jennifer
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